Myanmar soldiers on March 24 closed ports on their side of the Moei River next to Mae Sot and Tha Song Yang districts in retaliation for tightened oil transport control on the Thai side but the Thai-Myanmar bridge remained open, according to the Bangkok Post on  March 25.
Thailand’s stricter rules on fuel transportation across the Moei River border with Myanmar has sparked concern in Myawaddy that fuel shortages could be apparent within a week, according to media reports. 
Myawaddy depends largely on imports from neighbouring Thailand. Yet, the restriction on the weight of trucks passing the old Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge forced fuel companies from Thailand to load fuel from trucks to a pipeline that lies above the Moei River. 
But Thai police are reported to have barred such loading, saying that the trucks are licensed to transport fuel through the bridge crossing only. 
Fuel supplies are said to be dropping, according to fuel station owners.